Stores should scrap click & collect fees this August to boost holiday footfall, says Parcelhero

Any retailer that charges for click & collect orders in-store is cutting off its nose to spite its face, says the delivery expert Parcelhero. It argues retailers should suspend in-store collection fees to boost summer holiday footfall.

Retailers that continue to charge a fee to customers who want to collect their item in-store are missing out on vital footfall this summer, argues the home delivery expert Parcelhero. It’s compared fees on items in hot demand, including summer shorts and vacation reads, and is now calling on shops to suspend penny-pinching additional fees for in-store collections this August.

Parcelhero argues in-store click & collect is a key tool to encourage shoppers back into High Street stores, particularly during the school holiday period.

Parcelhero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: ‘Parcelhero has often said retailers that continue to charge for pickups in their own stores are misguided. Continuing to charge customers for the “privilege” of visiting stores to pick up an item they have ordered online seems a small-minded approach that could lose them considerable impulse purchases.

‘While many stores, from White Stuff to Zara, don’t charge their customers a penny to visit their shop and pick up their orders, there are plenty that still don’t see the benefits of attracting customers into their stores by offering free collections. Some retailers’ click & collect charges can be quite significant while others are so minimal that they beg the question: why bother?

‘We went online to look at summer shorts this week. These are in demand right now but they’re often a relatively low-cost item that falls below many retailers’ click & collect fee threshold.

‘The John Lewis Partnership partially saw the light by dropping click & collect fees during October last year to attract Christmas shoppers, but it’s now charging a £2.50 fee to pick up shorts and other items purchased on its website that cost under £30.

‘Why charge customers picking up an online order in person when the opportunity for increased sales from customers visiting stores to pick up their goods is likely to encourage further purchases, use their coffee shop, etc?

‘The same goes for New Look, which needs a new look at its click & collect fees. It’s charging £3.99 for its Click & Collect Express deliveries to its stores on items costing less than £25. Apparently, a £1.99 charge is also available for a slower 3-5 day Click & Collect Standard store pickup but wasn’t offered on the shorts we ordered, despite trying a number of locations.

‘River Island is another fashion store that adds a fee (£1) for “Collect from River Island” pickups of shorts costing under £20. You have to ask if charging £1 is worth risking pushing customers towards rival stores that don’t charge for collections.

‘It’s not just clothing stores that are charging people extra for items “bought online and picked up in store” (known as BOPUS in retail jargon). I can never resist a holiday paperback and the latest Cormorant Strike mystery The Running Grave is available on the WH Smith website. However, there was a charge of £1.99 to pick it up from my local Smiths and you have to spend over £25 to avoid this. Intriguingly, Waterstones’ “Click & Collect” service is more of an old-skool reservation system. It stock-checks your chosen store and lets you order a book online and pay for it on collection – at no extra charge.

‘We’ve just looked at a few inexpensive but popular summer items. Retailers charging their customers to click & collect in their own stores are missing out on potentially larger purchases as shoppers spot bargains on their way to the collection points.

‘Weatherwise, this summer isn’t shaping up to be anything special. That means retailers need to do everything they can to entice people back to town centres and into their stores.

‘The supply chain costs of delivering items into retailers’ own stores, as opposed to home deliveries or even deliveries to external parcel collection lockers, are minimal. Those stores that undervalue the benefits of in-store pickups may want to think again.

‘To find out more about how retailers are using new technologies to develop their click & collect and home delivery options, see Parcelhero’s study on “Dark Stores” and the High Street of the future at: https://www.parcelhero.com/research/shop-of-the-future